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Freelancing Pro Interview: Edwin Tofslie
Kristen Fischer
http://freelanceswitch.com
Like many creative professionals, Edwin Tofslie never intended on being an artist. But when his education in the engineering field went awry, Edwin explored his artistic side and never turned back.
Now, this 28-year-old Oregon resident is landing national clients from his full-time job and freelancing clients. He’s landed major design jobs with Nike, Old Spice, and Pepsi to name a few. With such an impressive portfolio, I just had to learn the secret to this guy’s success.
Tell us how you got into design and development. What school did you attend and what degrees did you have?
Surprisingly I have a failed attempt at an engineering degree to thank for my design career. After almost flunking out of college while pursuing engineering, I was lucky enough to date my college girlfriend who at the time was majoring in Graphic Design. She would bring her homework over to my place and I started helping her out here and there and found it came pretty easy. I had dabbled in art and Web design before college, so this was the shot in the arm that I needed. The next semester I was enrolled in a Bachelor of Fine Art Degree with an emphasis in Graphic, Web and Interface Design. Three and a half year later I graduated from the University of Idaho and went straight into the work force at AKQA.
You currently work for Summit Projects as a Senior Art Director but you also freelance. What do both jobs entail?
Currently I both hold a 9-5 job and freelance on the side. At Summit, I primarily head up the Nike Golf account. I am both hands-on design and act as Art Director over the whole account. It is both oversight and hands-on, and that is the way I prefer it. It does get repetitive over time but freelance and other smaller accounts help me stay creative, which in turn helps the creativity of Nike Golf. My job currently allows for plenty of freedom during my personal time.
I have been freelancing since my days in college when the extra money was very welcome. In the past few years most of the freelance work agencies hire me for is mainly pitch comps to win work. It is highly creative work and I have helped many agencies land clients.
What was the hardest thing about getting started with freelance work? How did you overcome it?
To be honest the hardest thing about getting started with freelance work is trying to get the client to brief me on time and let me run. It is probably one of the most frustrating parts of freelancing. Nothing is worse then waiting to start a project only to have them postpone the kickoff by a few days or even weeks. This is why it is good to always have another freelance project in the hopper. I usually have no problems diving into a project and running full speed ahead.
Tell us what your typical day is like.
I start out the day by scouring the Web. I am well known as being an Internet pop culture and design junkie. I get much of my inspiration and knowledge in my career by being on the forefront of everything that has to do with the Web. From being first to know or create the crazy things that come from the internet, or knowing what the best practices and design trends are, they both help me tremendously to know what the best ideas and solutions are for the many projects I tackle.
I work pretty fast and get much done, so I am able to create and learn at the same time throughout the day whether it is at work or home.
How can designers expand their base into the realm of marketing concepts and having a hand in the overall branding effort, as opposed to simply creating the art?
I think one thing many younger designers do not realize is that concepts are not just “design.” If they really want to expand their base into those realms, the best thing they can do is learn and practice idea generation and learn how to research into why things should be designed a specific way. The best designs and branding examples out there have inspiration, purpose, tell a story and are tailored completely to a companies target audience and how they want to come across as a company. Even some of the most simplistic logos, marketing and branding concepts out there have tremendous purpose behind why things were designed a certain way. Design usually is last on the list.
How have you landed the big-name clients? Do you think it’s more likely for freelancers to get these jobs or do they fall to creatives within the company?
Most of the big-name clients I have landed have been through agencies. Landing a big client as a freelancer takes a bit more trust from the client and even a good friendship with the client.
Most big-name clients will put their trust in a creative agency. I think the reason for this is the client does not want to just buy excellent design, but they are buying—and paying extra—for the security of knowing an agency has a better chance of getting the project done. And when you are dealing with million-dollar projects, you need to know they will be handled from top to bottom by a team of proven- and company-backed professionals. The client may save money by hiring freelancers, but they are also taking on more responsibility, and that is the last thing they want. Clients need the history of good proven work and assurance of security, or they have a greater chance of loosing their own jobs by taking on freelancers and having the project fail.
So the best advice I can give to landing big-name clients, is to have a proven success record and have the capacity to take on the whole project from project management to design.
What was your favorite campaign/job and why?
It would be easy to say my Adidas Kevin Garnett or Oxy Nation projects mainly because I had the freedom to not only design and art direct, but to direct the video and website from top to bottom. But honestly my favorite projects are the ones that have stricter guidelines. The reason for this is there is nothing more satisfying than taking a rigid set of wireframes or a previously bad design and style, and turning it into something nobody expected.
My Kayakshed.com and Ampd projects are examples of this.
Mainly with Kayak Shed, the challenge was to make a unique and beautiful site based on an out of the box CMS with a strict layout and grid structure. I was able to do a rebranding and website that not only positively reflected the companies brick and mortar location, but tripled the their revenue and sell-through online.
You say you approach each job with a new style. Why is this important for designers? How do you keep a fresh perspective?
As I was saying previously, the design is not always king. It maybe be the star in the end but to get to that design, you must take into consideration many things. To put it simply, I have had good success with this because I think about a few things before starting a project:
* Who is my target audience?
* What is the objective of the website or design? This greatly dictates design and usability.
* Is my design or style I am attempting usable or can I take liberties because of the audience?
* Am I pushing my own design abilities? Getting better with each project is key.
* Does it meet the requirement of the client? Many times the best designs are not the best for the client and their objectives.
* Can your design improve the client’s objective? If you decide to move off brand, you better make sure it is because you strongly believe the client’s brand is hurting them. This usually opens a whole can of worms, so if you go down this route, be prepared to have good arguments and bandwidth to help overhaul their brand if you succeed.
* Is the design based on a trend? Trends are not a bad thing but you must be careful of not overusing it. If you do use a trendy design, make sure you try and push it further and that it still meets the client’s objective. (See a pattern?)
Finally, trust your instincts. As I progressed in my abilities I realized that I trusted more in my own abilities and instincts. In the past, the times I had designer’s block, were the times I maybe saw a cool design and decided to try and make my design resemble it. I would see something awesome and immediately try and design something based on it without consideration of the client or their needs. This usually got me in the most trouble because not only would I get stuck with the design, but the client would not buy it.
So try not to get stuck in one design style, but try and expand your abilities and skills. One of the best and most natural ways to do this is to simply listen to your client’s needs and find the best design solution for THEM, not you. Before you know it you will have a breadth of skills, great designs and will have successfully met your client’s needs.
What do you do with your downtime?
Creatively, one of my favorite things to do is design side projects on my computer, research on the Internet all while watching movies. I am a big movie buff. As for non-creative actives, when I am not chasing around and playing with my daughter, I like to spend my time fly fishing, spending time with my wife and working on my classic truck.
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